But then that's nothing new as far as Boro managers are concerned. In fact eight out of Boro's last 12 bosses had no managerial experience whatsoever when handed the hot seat here.

You can go back 40 years to Stan Anderson's appointment in 1966 and find just four Boro managers with previous experience.

Southgate follows a long succession of new boys to management which includes Anderson, Jack Charlton, Bobby Murdoch, Willie Maddren, Colin Todd, Bryan Robson and Steve McClaren.

The only experienced appointments during this time were John Neal, Malcolm Allison, Bruce Rioch and Lennie Lawrence. Of these, only Allison and Lawrence had bossed top flight teams before coming to Teesside.

In fact Boro have never appointed a manager with experience since they moved to the Riverside Stadium.

However Robson arrived as a man who had "manager in the making" written all over him. He was a 90-times capped former England skipper, with a bite on and off the field, and a respect among his peers which is rarely repeated anywhere in the game.

That's how the Durham County born boss was able to stamp so much authority on the club when he walked in the door in the summer of 1994.

Robbo won promotion at the first attempt, saw Boro play their first game at the Riverside in the Premiership, and brought players of the calibre of Juninho, Fabrizio Ravanelli and Emerson to Teesside.

He also reached an FA Cup Final and two Coca Cola Cup finals, though all three ended in defeat.

McClaren followed Robbo in from Manchester United, where he was a much admired assistant boss under Alex Ferguson. McClaren went on to win Boro's first ever major trophy when they beat Bolton Wanderers in the Carling Cup Final in 2004.

He then took the club into Europe for two successive seasons, culminating in a remarkable appearance in the UEFA Cup Final in May when they were beaten by Sevilla in Eindhoven.

It leaves Southgate with a hard act to follow. He lacks the knowledge that McClaren brought with him from European conquering Man United. But Southgate has different qualities, and Boro are confident that his man management skills will be his biggest asset.

He's also likely to bring in an attacking approach which will be seen as a breath of fresh air.

Southgate does need to learn all about the pitfalls of the transfer market, but that will come in time.

A failure to spend cash was always levelled at Charlton as the reason why he was not more successful.

But Jack did set a Second Division record with his promotion winning margin, after Anderson had endured so many unlucky near-misses.

Bobby Murdoch, a great man and a magnificent player, did not prove an astute manager, while Willie Maddren made some superb signings like Bernie Slaven but found the situation impossible as Boro hurtled towards liquidation.

Todd was unfortunate that he followed the supremely popular Rioch into the hot seat. He won a last gasp battle against relegation and then took the team into the play offs the following season, but still the fans did not take to him.

Rioch will be ever revered for what he achieved with such a young and wafer thin squad, while Neal also gave youth its head with the likes of Craig Johnston, Mark Proctor and David Hodgson.

Allison was another to suffer from lack of cash, while Lawrence made a major initial impact by winning promotion, but lost the support of the fans following the ensuing relegation.

In all cases, the fans always have the final say - and at the moment they are fully behind Southgate.

If it stays that way, then Gareth will be a major success and take the club to new heights.